Park Geun-hye attends a national convention of the ruling Saenuri Party in Goyang, north of Seoul August 20, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - Impeached President Park Geun-hye of South Korea was permanently removed from office on Friday as the constitutional court upheld the impeachment motion.

Park, who had been sworn in as the country's first female president in February 2013, was dishonorably forced to leave her office and became the first elected leader to be ousted, with her five-year presidency unfinished.

She took office as the 18th president four years ago, after winning over a majority of vote in the December 2012 presidential election.

In her early presidency, Park, 65, looked an unassailable icon among conservative voters as she reminded them of her father Park Chung-hee, an assassinated military strongman who was worshipped by right-leaning voters as a leader who sped up industrialization.

Park was born in 1952 as the first child of Park Chung-hee. In 1963, the 11-year-old Park moved into Chong Wa Dae with her father. She served as the "first lady" for five years after her mother was killed in a 1974 assassination attempt on elder Park. She was forced to leave the presidential office after her father was assassinated in 1979.